Mike

After playing the original Hellblade, I was eagerly awaiting the release of this sequel. The graphics are absolutely stunning and the fact that its running in real time is a technological feat Ninja Theory should be proud of. The sound design is also exceptional and this game MUST be played with headphones to get the full experience of Senua’s thought process. Unfortunately I found it hard to really engage with the story as there are definitely pacing issues with the game. At some points, I was so disengaged with the story that I had to take a break from the game. The level design had many long sections of walking, which made going from one event to another rather painful. There were several points in the game where I could see how far I had to walk and let out a big sigh. I also found I was constantly holding the run button as Senua’s movements are way too slow. Her jogging speed should’ve been her walking speed. They really need to have an ‘always run’ option in the game. Speaking of events (puzzles and combat), they were few and far between. The combat is a major downgrade from the first game. I can see what Ninja Theory was trying to do with the combat to make it cinematic, but it ends up being extremely repetitive, linear and stale after a few encounters. The puzzles were simplistic and the fact that, again, a lot of walking is involved, made some of them rather painful. Ultimately, this game was a disappointment and serves as a good example that graphics mean nothing if gameplay isn’t up to scratch.